Register pin unit

ABSTRACT

A register pin is mounted within a surrounding supporting sleeve for selective translatory radial adjustment perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The pin extends axially through a conical collar which is free to shift radially in any direction within the supporting sleeve. A circular series of axial adjusting screws on the sleeve bear against the conical collar to shift it radially and retain it in any radially adjusted position.

United States Patent [1 1 Anderson [451 Jan. 14,1975

[ REGISTER PIN UNIT [75] Inventor: Bert K. G. Anderson, l-lagersten,

Sweden [73] Assignee: Misomex Aktiebolag, l-lagersten,

Sweden 221 Filed: Jan. 24, 1974 21 Appl. No.2 436,338

[52] U.S. Cl. 269/316, 269/303 [51] Int. Cl B23q 3/18 [58] Field of Search 269/10, 58, 59, 71, 291,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,254,044 l/1918 Johnson 269/297 8/1954 Coop 269/317 9/1971 Greene 269/305 Primary ExaminerRoy Lake Assistant Examiner-Mark S. Bicks Attorney, Agent, or Firm-James E. Nilles [57] ABSTRACT A register pin is mounted within a surrounding supporting sleeve for selective translatory radial adjustment perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve. The pin extends axially through a conical collar which is free to shift radially in any direction within the supporting sleeve. A circular series of axial adjusting screws on the sleeve bear against the conical collar to shift it radially and retain it in any radially adjusted position.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures REGISTER PIN UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Within many fields of handling sheet materials there is nowadays a need for a very accurate location of such material when it is to be worked or processed in any way. Often there is also a demand that several pieces of sheet material are passed through a working or processing zone in a very accurately assembled conditions so that all the pieces after the working or processing will be assembled with the greatest possible degree of precision. In other words there should be an accurate register on one hand between the piece of sheet material to be worked and the working or processing apparatus and, on the other hand, between the pieces of sheet material in relation to each other.

Such accurate register is necessary within many different fields, but for the sake of simplicity the invention will only be described herein in relation to apparatus for the graphic arts like cameras, contact copying frames, scanners, enlarging apparatus and the like.

Heretofore such apparatus did not have any particular means for providing a register, and the piece of sheet material, which could be a film, a plate, a mask or similar article was by hand or with the aid of simple optical or mechanical devices mounted in a predetermined position in the processing apparatus. Such mounting could not however be made with the accuracy which is nowadays necessary, and the mounting was further time consuming and to a great extent depending on the skill and diligence of the operator. Apparatus of the kind in question have therefore been provided with register pins corresponding to register holes in the sheet material to be handled. The said register pins usually are fixedly mounted in the frame of the processing apparatus, in which the film, the plate or similar article is to be mounted. In case of such fixed register pins there is no possibility of adjustment, and since both the film, plate or the like and the frame of the processing apparatus intended therefor may be subjected to changes due to variations in temperature, moisture, air pressure, load on the apparatus, etc., and since there may be small differences in the location of the register holes in different batches of films of plates, there is always a risk that there are differences, even if small, between the register holes and the register pins, with the result that the film or plate cannot be accurately mounted in the processing apparatus.

In many cases it may be desirable to mount the register pins in an available machine which does not have such pins, and in order to take care of this a bore may be provided into which a register pin is pressed. In some cases an accuracy as high as one or two hundredths of a millimeter is necessary in the location of the register pins, and such accuracy could hardly be obtained when boring holes for the register pins in an available machine. Attempts have been made to obtain an accurate location of register pins in bores by boring a hole which is somewhat larger than the bushing of the register pin, and the register pin has then been correctly located by staving the bushing so that the pin is adjusted as closely to the exact position as possible while the pin is attached to the machine support or other part of the processing apparatus. It is however extremely difficult to mount every single register pin in an exact position in relation to the processing apparatus and in relation to other register pins, and besides there is no possibility of changing the location of the register pins, as indicated above, considering any differences in the location of the register holes in the sheet material to be handled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The basic object of the present invention is to provide a register pin unit which may be mounted both in available machines and apparatus and in connection with the manufacture of such machines or apparatus, which register pin unit affords a possibility of optionally adjusting the register pin in relation to the machine or apparatus and in relation to other register pins provided therein with an accuracy as high as one or a few thousandths of a millimeter.

THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent as this disclosure proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein;

FIG. I is a sectional view of a register pin unit embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a somewhat modified embodiment of the invention, the register pin of FIG. 3 being shown in a retracted, locked position to which it may be adjusted in the event that the machine or apparatus is to be used without register pins.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows only one of a series of register pin units mounted in the bed of a machine comprising a base plate 1 of metal having a surface layer 2 in the form of a rubber blanket. The machine is provided with an adequate number of register pin units which are pressed into the machine bed and kept in this position by friction between the outer surface of the register pin unit and the corresponding bore 3 in the machine bed. For further increasing the friction between the two parts the register pin unit may be formed with knurls 4 around its periphery as indicated in FIG. 1.

The register pin unit generally consists of a register pin 5 which is resiliently mounted in the axial direction and which is adjustable in the radial direction in a surrounding housing sleeve 6. The housing sleeve 6 is in the bottom thereof provided with a seat 7 which is threaded into the housing sleeve from below, and the seat 7 has a threaded central bore 8, into which a bottom screw 9 is threaded. The bottom screw 9 has a downwardly extending counter bore 10 of substantial length closed at its lower end and the bottom screw 9 is further formed with two diametrically opposed longitudinal slots 11 opening into the counter bore 10.-

The register pin 5 comprises a shank 12 extending down into the housing 6 and a head 13 having a hexagonal recess 14. Adjacent its lower end the pin shank 12 has a cross bore, in which a guide pin 16 is seated. The 7 pin shank 12 has a substantially smaller diameter than the bore 10 of the bottom screw 9, whereas the guide pin 16 is substantially longer than the diameter of the bore 10 and extends into the two slots 11. The slots 11 may be open upwards, but in the shown embodiment they are closed and of such a length that the register pin 5 may move a distance in the axial direction which is greater than the height of the pin head 13. The register pin 5 is biased upwards by a pressure spring 17 which is mounted between the bottom of the screw 9 and the bottom of the register pin 5.

In order to provide the guiding and the adjustment possibility of the register pin 5, its shank 12 extends through a collar 18 which is along its outer periphery formed with downward and outward extending conical surface 19. The cone collar 18 rests against the upper surface of the seat 7, and the collar 18 has a base diameter which is substantially less than the inside diameter of the housing sleeve 6, so that there is a possibility for the collar to move a substantial distance in the radial direction within the housing sleeve 6. The collar is held against the upper surface of the seat 7 by means of four screws 20 threaded from above through a rim of the housing sleeve 6 and which are each provided with a hexagonal recess 21.

The seat 7 is butt threaded against the bottom of the housing sleeve 6, and for that purpose the seat 7 may be formed with spanner holes 22. Differing therefrom the bottom screw 9 is loosely threaded into the threaded inner bore 8 of the seat 7, and the register pin is kept forced with the guide pin 16 resting against the upper surfaces of the slots 11. The height of the pin head 13 over the base support is adjusted by screwing the bottom screw 9 upwards or downwards preferably by means of an Allan wrench engaging the hexagonal recess 14 in the pin head 13. As shown in FIG. 3 the pin 5 may be completely retracted by screwing the bottom screw 9 down, which may be suitable or necessary in certain cases when the machine or apparatus is to be used without register pins. In its screwed out position which is shown in FIG. 1 the pin 5 may be pressed inwards against the action of the pressure spring 17, as may be necessary in some cases like in copying frames or similar apparatus, in which a glass or some other object is pressed against the rubber blanket 2 of the support.

The cone collar 18 thus rests evenly against the upper side of the bottom screw 9, and it is important to note that the cone collar 18 is always taking one and the same vertical position within the housing sleeve 6 to the effect that the register pin 5 is always kept with its axis parallel with the axis of the housing sleeve 6. This is of essential importance since otherwise turning of the register pin about its axis would defeat the aimed accurate register. In order to make a radial translatory displace ment of the register pin 5 possible in the housing 6 and particularly in the bottom screw 9 the slots 11 should be substantially wider than the diameter of the guide pin 16 in order that a translatory displacement may take place also in the plane extending at right angle to the plane of the drawings.

After the register pin unit has been pressed into the bore 3 in the machine or apparatus bed the height position of the pin head 13 is adjusted by rotating the pin 5, so that the bottom screw 9 is screwed upwards or downwards in the threaded bore 8 of the seat 7. Thereafter the pin head 13 is to be adjusted laterally into exact position with great accuracy, and this is easily done by screwing one or more of the adjustment screws 20 upward and screwing the remaining adjustment screws 20 downwards a corresponding distance. The adjustment suitably takes place by means of a sensitive gauge indicator, and in this way it is possible to obtain a more precise adjustment of the lateral position of the register pin than has hitherto been possible.

In FIG. 3 is shown a modification of the register pin unit shown in FIG. 1. In the modification, the housing sleeve 6 is formed with outer threads 23 and the machine bed is formed with corresponding threads whereby the register pin unit may be threaded into the machine bed and locked in position by means of a lock nut 24. FIG. 3 illustrates how the register pin by screwing the bottom screw 9 down may be completely retracted into the housing 6, so that the machine may be utilized for other purposes than handling sheet materials having register holes. It is to be noted that the cone collar 18 is also taking the same vertical position in the housing 6 irrespective of the height position of the register pin 5.

As herein disclosed, the register pin 5 is adapted for axial insertion into and radial displacement within the housing sleeve 6, and the pin is mounted within said sleeve for selective translatory radial adjustment perpendicular to the longitudinal sleeve axis and in axially supported relation longitudinally of said sleeve.

As its upper end as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the housing sleeve 6 has a radially inward enlarged end portion, and the screw threaded seat 7 within the sleeve provides an internal annular shoulder at its upper end which is spaced axially from the radially inward enlarged end portion of the sleeve.

Means mounting the pin 5 within the housing sleeve 6 for translatory radial movement perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and in axially supported relation to the sleeve comprise a conical collar element which in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is represented by the collar 18, and which presents a conical outer surface tapering toward the radially inward enlarged end portion of the sleeve 6. The conical collar element 18 is seated at its base on the annular shoulder afforded by the seat 7 and it is cooperable with said shoulder and with the pin 5 to transmit translatory radial movement to the pin perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve by lateral movement of the collar in any radial direction relative to the housing sleeve.

The circular series of adjusting screws 20 are operatively mounted in the enlarged end portion of the housing sleeve 6 in endwise abuttable relation to the conical surface of the collar 18.

In the herein disclosed embodiment of the invention, the register pin 5 and the cone collar 18 are slidably interconnected for axial movement relative to each other, and the coil spring 17 represents spring means which are operatively interposed between the housing sleeve 6 and the register pin 5 so as to urge the latter axially toward the radially inward enlarged end portion of the housing sleeve. The axially slotted bottom screw 9 and the guide pin 16 represent stop means for limiting movement of the register pin 5 by the expanding pressure of the coil spring 17. The hereinbefore described cooperative relationship between the bottom screw 9 and the guide pin 16 provides an axial and torsional lost motion connection between the housing sleeve 6 and the register pin 5.

I claim:

1. A radially adjustable register pin unit comprising a housing sleeve; a register pin adapted for axial insertion into and radial displacement within said housing sleeve; mounting means within said housing sleeve cooperable with said register pin to position the latter for translatory radial movement thereof perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve and in axially supsurrounding said pin and presenting a conical outer sur-- face tapering toward said one end of said housing sleeve, said collar element being seated at its base on said annular shoulder and cooperable therewith and with said pin to transmit said translatory radial movement to the latter by lateral movement of said collar in any radial direction relative to said housing sleeve.

3. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 2 wherein said adjusting means comprise a circular series of screw elements threadably mounted on said housing sleeve in endwise abuttable relation to said conical surface of said collar element.

4. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 2, wherein said pin and collar element are slidably interconnected for axial movement relative to each other; said pin mounting means further comprising spring means operatively interposed between said housing sleeve and said pin so as to urge the latter axially toward said one end of said housing sleeve; and stop means for limiting movement of said pin by said spring means.

5. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein said stop means comprise axial and torsional lost motion connecting means between said housing sleeve and said register pin. 

1. A radially adjustable register pin unit comprising a housing sleeve; a register pin adapted for axial insertion into and radial displacement within said housing sleeve; mounting means within said housing sleeve cooperable with said register pin to position the latter for translatory radial movement thereof perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said sleeve and in axially supported relation longitudinally of said sleeve; and adjusting means operatively associated with said housing sleeve and mounting means for transmitting said translatory movement to said register pin and for releasably securing the latter in various positions of radial adjustment within said housing sleeve.
 2. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 1, wherein said housing sleeve has an internal annular shoulder spaced axially from one end thereof; and wherein said pin mounting means comprise a conical collar element surrounding said pin and presenting a conical outer surface tapering toward said one end of said housing sleeve, said collar element being seated at its base on said annular shoulder and cooperable therewith and with said pin to transmit said translatory radial movement to the latter by lateral movement of said collar in any radial direction relative to said housing sleeve.
 3. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 2 wherein said adjusting means comprise a circular series of screw elements threadably mounted on said housing sleeve in endwise abuttable relation to said conical surface of said collar element.
 4. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 2, wherein said pin and collar element are slidably interconnected for axial movement relative to each other; said pin mounting means further comprising spring means operatively interpOsed between said housing sleeve and said pin so as to urge the latter axially toward said one end of said housing sleeve; and stop means for limiting movement of said pin by said spring means.
 5. A register pin unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein said stop means comprise axial and torsional lost motion connecting means between said housing sleeve and said register pin. 